This was the one day most of us were all looking forward to (or dreading, however you look at it). Queenstown is known for the number of available adventure activities, and we were given every opportunity to participate in as many as possible. We had presented our choices of activities to Gavin a few days earlier and he had organized everything for us to perfection. It really was trouble-free for all of us. We just had to fork over the cash to do so!

First on my own personal list of activities was the tandem skydive. This was the one thing I was looking most forward to doing on the trip, and something I had never come close to doing, and would never even consider if not presented the opportunity on this trip. Gavin had told us that skydiving was one activity that was very prone to being cancelled due to the weather. However, there was absolutely no chance of that happening on this day. The sky was devoid of any clouds and there wasn't any wind in the air. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. I was among the first group of people to be picked up right from our lodge by a Skydive Tandem van that would take us to their location just outside of Queenstown near the Remarkables. We all watched a sample video of a skydive as we also filled out a questionnaire and signed a waiver releasing all liability from Skydive Tandem in case something terrible would go wrong. We had a choice of either jumping out from 9,000ft high or 12,000ft high. Everybody chose 12,000ft, perhaps because I was asked first and nobody wanted to be the one to choose the "easier" jump, if there even is such a thing when it comes to skydiving. Andrea, Tessa and I would be the very first ones to go, so were were fitted into our full skydiving gear. As this was tandem skydiving, we needed virtually no instruction, as each of us would be attached to an experienced skydiver who would control all aspects of the jump. Andrea and I both ordered a video and photographs of our skydive, so we had two extra skydivers come with us, with helmet cameras to capture our skydives. When I was the last one to get into the small airplane, I noticed I was closest to the door and realized that I would be the very first one to jump out! Our plane drove up and down the field to scare away all the sheep that were grazing there to clear a path for us to take off. We were then up in the air and climbing up to 12,000ft. My instructor, Richard began attaching the harness between us both and also my hat and goggles, while my own videographer, Saša, kept the camera rolling. The door opened and it was time for me to go. I felt the cool wind blowing in as Saša climbed out first. Then Richard swung us around until I was literally hanging out of the airplane, head arched back as we were all told, and legs hooked under the plane, in the "big banana" position. I saw Saša let go of the plane and then I felt Richard roll us out. Admittedly, I closed my eyes shut as we fell out of the plane, a very slight and very short moment of discomfort, then a floating feeling, as I opened my eyes to find myself "flying" in the air. In actuality, we were dropping anywhere up to 200 km/h, but it felt much more like the wind was rushing up at us. Saša was also falling in synch with us, in front of me, camera rolling. The freefall was absolutely the most amazing feeling I have ever felt in my life. There was no nervousness, in fact I was smiling from ear to ear. At one point, Saša even held my hand and turned us all completely around for a full 360º panorama. All around us were mountains and crystal blue lakes and rivers; there couldn't have been a better setting anywhere else. Before I knew it, I felt a huge pulling on the straps on the inside of my legs. Richard has deployed the parachute and the feeling was one of being yanked upwards. We straightened out into a standing position as Richard gave me the controls for the parachute, showing me how to control the direction of descent. In about three minutes, we made a soft landing, sliding along the grass in a sitting position. I jumped straight up, yelled in excitement and gave the thumbs up to Saša, who had landed before us and still had the camera rolling. I thanked them both for a truly amazing experience that I would be hard pressed to top ever again in my life. Tessa landed soon after, followed by Andrea. They both had the same thoughts as I did, an amazing experience that would never be forgotten. We couldn't wipe the smiles off of our faces and we were running high on adrenaline. I was glad to have gone first because then I could relax and watch as the others who had come with us took their turns jumping out and landing. It was great to see their faces as they landed, because I knew exactly how they felt. The Skydive Tandem van had come back with the next group of people from our tour, for a total of 16 of us brave enough to jump out of a perfectly good airplane 12,000ft up in the air. Every single person, after their respective jumps, all had the same reactions as the initial three of us did. We were all smiling, and wired from the adrenaline rush. We all wanted to go back up and do it again!

Our first group were then the first ones to be shuttled back into town and dropped off. Brae, Andrea and I immediately went to an Internet Cafe. I just had to send off an e-mail to everyone back home to tell them I had just jumped out of an airplane and survived. We then grabbed lunch and met up with another group on our tour. They had just done the tandem hand gliding that morning. They were equally happy about their activity as we were about ours.

Most of the tour group was participating in the water rafting in the afternoon. However, those of us who went skydiving weren't too sure whether anything else could top our morning! While some were just participating in the water rafting, some were doing the Twin Challenge combo that also included a jetboat ride on the Shotover Jet, while some of us were doing the Triple Challenge combo, that also included a short helicopter ride with Helicopter Line through Skipper's Canyon to the rafting site. We all met at Queenstown Rafting, and those of us doing the Triple Challenge and Twin Challenge were transported via bus to Arthur's Point on the shore of the Shotover River for our jetboat ride on the Shotover Jet. We were given wetsuits to wear and boarded one of the several bright red jetboats. Along for the ride in our jetboat was John, Hayley, Matt, Tessa, and Martina, as well as other non-Contiki people. The jetboats use an internal propeller that draws the water from the river in and then is driven out with great force to provide the propulsion, and the added control over a conventional motorboat. The ride itself was exciting, as we sped through the canyons along the Shotover River, propelled near the canyon walls, the water kicking up and splashing back into the jetboat. The highlight is the 360º turn where the jetboat spins in place a full 360º around. During the ride, we also saw some people rafting on the river, which we were to do later.

We then proceeded to the rafting lodge to be fitted into full rafting gear, including wetsuits, lifejackets and helmets. Those of us doing the Triple Challenge got onto a separate bus to be transported to a waiting helicopter for the Helicopter Line flight through the canyon to where our rafting adventure was to begin, along the shore of the Shotover River. It had been the first time ever for me being in a helicopter as well. We all arrived before those doing just the Twin Challenge or just the rafting. From what we were told, they had more of an interesting ride as the winding road down the mountain did not have any barrier between the road and the immediate drop off the side. There were a large number of people participating in the rafting outside of our Contiki group. There were a total of eight rafts and teams of six per raft. I was teamed up with Glenn, Leanne#2, Renee, Jane, and Julie, and our river guide was Linda. We also had the distinction of having a yellow raft while everyone else had a blue one.

Into the rafts we all went. This would also mark the first time rafting for me as well (quite a lot of firsts for me on this day)! The water was rather cold, but the wet suits helped keep us relatively well-insulated. We had introductions all around the raft, as well as basic rafting techniques and instructions from our river guide, Linda. After all, these techniques and instructions could mean the difference between charging through a rapid successfully or getting beached, or worse, tipping over or falling out. We were told that in the morning crew the only person who fell into the water was one of the guides. The river in general was pretty serene, with relatively light rapids for the first half. The second half posed a little more challenge, but nothing too difficult. We did take pride in being one of the only rafts to charge through one of the rapids without incident while most of the other rafts got stuck, and some came close to tipping over. Near the end we passed through the 170m long Oxenbridge Tunnel, taking care not to get our heads bumped in the cave. The water level was lower than usual, so we didn't need to get down into the raft very much. Then as we exited the tunnel, we encountered the Cascade Rapid that took us sideways into the rapid and then downwards. This was the only instance where we came close to losing anyone in the water. We had managed to conquer the rapids with relative success; having an excellent rafting team that worked together didn't hurt either! To finish off our afternoon of rafting, we got two complimentary soakings by the Shotover Jet as it passed by us. The second splash hit us especially hard like a tidal wave and if we weren't completely wet yet under our suits, we were after that. At the conclusion of the rafting, we all got out of our wetsuits back at the rafting lodge and were treated to a warm shower, sauna, and hot drinks and snacks.

Speeding through the water
(photo taken by the team at Shotover Jet)

Our rafting team: Glenn, Linda (our guide), Leanne, Me, Renee, Jane, Julie